Month: April 2012

The trouble with family is you often get stuck with the group consensus, which today meant a long drive out to “a nice town on the Delaware river” to go antiquing and tourist-trapping. Stuck with it we were, and stick with it we did.

With the Wheel of Fortune in mind, I said: “heck with it, lets go and see what we see.” In the leather shop I got a new coin wallet (I’ve been looking for a new one for a while now), in another I found a pair of shoes that’ll go great with the rest of my nice clothes for the Readers’ Studio dress up evening, and in another we acquired some… more personal items for fun later 😉 We also got ice-cream, and chocolate-covered bacon strips, and overall had a nice walk and a pleasant day.

Sometimes you have to roll where the wind blows you, and take a chance on what you’ll find. “That’s how I roll,” says the Wheel of Fortune.

Tomorrow’s card is: The High Priestess (ain’t that appropriate!?), plus it’s the LAST DAY BEFORE RS2012!

As a mostly introverted person putting time aside for recuperating from social events is a must. It’s not that I’m antisocial, it’s that social situations take more energy out of me than they put in; they’re exhausting physically, mentally and socially. So I need a timeout now and then. I didn’t exactly get one today, and the Hermit is here to remind me the price of overextending myself.

We went to Manhattan today. Enough said, right? Busiest, noisiest, most crowded place in the western world. Not the most restive of places for an already-overextended Introvert… Still, we got to see some awesome places, did a bit of shopping, overate at a nifty diner where the staff sing modern showtunes while they serve you. (Seriously, our dessert was accompanied by a duet-rendition from Wicked.) And then home again.

Where I promptly crashed into a nap until past dinnertime and apparently missing out on some awesome Portuguese restaurant dining and family time. The Hermit today reminded me -the hard way- to respect my need to sleep. You see, for me, The Hermit also moonlights as Mister Sandman. As a dreamer, sleep is my refuge; dreamtime my sanctuary. “Miss an regular check-in at your own peril, buddy,” says The Hermit. Ignore and avoid those subconscious needs and the universe will take it’s cue and resolve things in it’s own manner.

Right then. Time for some Advil PM and off to dreamland to right the imbalance.

Sunday. Family dinner time. Extended family dinner time. The house is roaring with a dozen different conversations. Screaming waves of small children pass by periodically, chasing or being chases by imaginary monsters, I can’t tell. Courses of dinner are cooking and I am salivating waiting for them. I am writing this from a quiet corner, a momentary escape from the cacophony of boisterous lesser kinstrife, and it’s hard to concentrate on what the Heirophant is here to say today.

So I asked the Tarot for help; shuffling and drawing three cards, I ask:

Why is he here? Ten of Wands! Too much information! Too many conversations. Too. Much. NOISE! He’s here, to help me deal with the flooding the senses, which are threatening to give me a migraine.

What would he be thinking: Seven of Coins; patience in the face of temptation and expediency. The Hierophant sits above his circle of Cardinals, listening to their conversations and hearing their petitions. He bides his time and marshals his strengths for when the time is right.

What would he do (or tell me to do) next: Justice! He knows that he will be called upon to settle questions of canon. The conclave will eventually turn to him in seeking his wisdom in resolving debate; his will be the tie-breaking decision; he is the arbiter of justice. His actions will set precedence and have effects far and wide from the events at hand. The Hierophant knows all of this, and knows he must choose wisely.

Todays card is Temperance. The ultimate alchemist; the master mixologist. Temperance is about blending and balancing disparate elements of life. To find new combinations to keep life fresh and revitalized, inspired and zesty.

New Jersey is a different world from California. After a day of adjusting to the different time zones and local dialect, it is time to put these new experiences to good use. Temperance asks: “What can i do with these changes in routine. How do i reconcile these alternate opinions and viewpoints? Where can i integrate into the new ME?”

I blog this as I wait to board my plane to New York. The say is long over and it’s a good time to reflect upon the passing Sun. While we depend on the Sun, we also need the night. I’ll do my best to rest on while on the plane. I’ll even try the old “shot of whiskey and Tylenol PM” trick.

The Sun means respecting the night and the sleep cycle and taking the downtime for myself.

Today’s card is The Fool. Being the very first Major Arcana, the Fool is appropriate for the eve of leaving on our trip. It’s about the moment of packing bags, turning off the electronics at home and make sure to lock the door on the way out. The Fool embraces the change of environment, new sights and new sensations. As an introvert, this is a… daunting proposition. Leaving my comfort zone is always an effort. Just to get on the plane, I’ll need to embrace The Fool. (Gods, I hate flying).

The Fool is about accepting risks and taking chances. You’ll never grow until you try. Failure is always an option, and generally not a terrible one; we learn more from our failures than from our successes. The Fool says: “Time to pack away those fears (most of which can be dealt with good preparation anyway), close your eyes and step off that cliff with me.” Rose and I like to say to each other: “Thank you for taking my hand and joining me on this adventure,” and it’s the mantra of our friendship, our marriage and our outlook on life.

Life is about change and I’ll never change if I don’t manifest The Fool and accept the risk.

Tomorrow’s card: The Sun

P.S. If you want some more ideas of mine about The Fool, check out one my first posts here.

Today’s card is Judgment. Personally I think not of the biblical concept of Judgment, but rather the outcome of the process of Justice. Do the ends justify the means? Is it good? Was it done right? The outcome will be reviewed later and Judgment will be passed. A post-mortem on the choices made, the actions taken and the quality of plans made versus progress. Learn from it and move on.

Today Judgment asks: How could this have been done better? What can you learn from the experience thus far?

On the heels of Judgment, tomorrow’s card is The Fool. This should be interesting…

We see the moon by light reflected from the Sun. By the light of the Moon we can see at night (most nights, that is), but it is subtle, indirect and often misleading. The Moon also has its cycles and those cycles influence all life on Earth.

Innowen and I both had to put our heads together on The Moon as neither of us were on the ball today writing about it. With her help, I decided to plumb the depths of the subtleness of The Moon; this is a card for dreamers and visionaries. So what is the lesson of The Moon today? “Go ahead and dream it.” Listen to the unconscious mind and daydream the possibilities. Shamanism is the art of touching the great subconsciousness and bringing that wisdom back into the real world. Listening to The Moon means to create room for the most esoteric moments of intuition: when the unusual and otherwise impossible combine in the space of the imagination are allowed to conflagrate, combine and comingle.

Today started as a bit of a lump. I had a difficult time getting out of bed and getting going. Until this afternoon, it was a day of going through the routine motions of commute, work, lunch then more work and home. But tonight? Tonight is time to tap the esoteric wisdom of The Moon and listen to her subtle subconscious wisdom.

Hot on the heels of the Emperor arrives the Empress, ironically enough. Her self-awareness is the perfect counterpart to the Emperor’s external vigilance. She’s the nurturing, supporting caretaker; she watches the kingdoms of the Emperor’s domain. She’s the gardener, the home secretary, the minister of the interior, if you will. I also like to call her the “Executive Officer” to the Emperor’s “Captain” of the ship. She knows the ins and out and how to make things happen to support the Emperor’s grand plans.

So what does the Empress have to tell me about today? In this rush to prepare for our journey to Readers Studio 2012, don’t neglect the most important thing: Ourselves. She reminds me that the entire point is to have fun and grow as a person. Plan to have fun. Expect to learn new things. Leave room in your bags for all the neat new stuff you’ll be bringing home! She also knows that I’ll need my introvert-time, and reminds me to make sure I respect the need to take timeouts and recuperative retreats. Yes, mommy…

The Emperor card! King of Kings and master of the world; his is the demesne over the four kingdoms of the minor arcana: Swords/Air, Cups/Water, Pentacles/Earth and Wands/Fire. The four minor Kings owe the Emperor their fealty and he can call upon them to serve his needs. The Emperor is the consummate synthesist and project manager; his goals are beyond those of mere ‘kings.’ His vision extends far beyond their personal domains.

The Emperor is here to remind me today that it’s time to look at all elements of the situation. How do I combine these disparate aspects of my life into a cohesive and cogent whole? How do I achieve a life that is more than the sum of its elemental parts? How do I command and lead those that follow to success and victory? The Emperor is the role model, the mentor and the example to follow.

Tomorrow’s card: The Empress. No really, they showed up one after the other!